Page:Carroll - Tangled Tale.djvu/103

Twenty-five solutions have been received. Of these, 15 must be marked "0," 5 are partly right, and 5 right. Of the 15, I may dismiss Alphabetical Phantom, Bog-Oak, Dinah Mite, Fifee, Galanthus Nivalis Major (I fear the cold spring has blighted our Snowdrop), Guy, H.M.S. Pinafore, Janet, and Valentine with the simple remark that they insist on the unfortunate lodgers keeping to the pavement. (I used the words "crossed to Number Seventy-three" for the special purpose of showing that short cuts were possible.) Sea-Breeze does the same, and adds that "the result would be the same" even if they crossed the Square, but gives no proof of this. M. M. draws a diagram, and says that No. 9 is the house, "as the diagram shows." I cannot see how it does so. Old Cat assumes that the house must be No. 9 or No. 73. She does not explain how she estimates the distances. Bee's Arithmetic is faulty: she makes $\scriptstyle {\sqrt {169}}\ +\ {\sqrt {442}}\ +\ {\sqrt {130}}\ =\ 741$. (I suppose you mean $\scriptstyle {\sqrt {741}}$, which would be a little nearer the truth. But roots cannot be added in this manner. Do you think $\scriptstyle {\sqrt {9}}\ +\ {\sqrt {16}}$ is $\scriptstyle 25$, or even $\scriptstyle {\sqrt {25}}$?) But Ayr's state is more perilous still: she draws illogical conclusions with a frightful calmness. After pointing out (rightly) that AC is less than BD she says, "therefore the nearest house to the other three must be A or C." And again, after pointing out (rightly) that B and D are both within the half-square containing